Car-seal



- brought close together and remain in that ARTHUR, H. Pninon, o

PATENT Crimen.

F cHioAeo, ILLINois.

CAR-S EAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent No. 615,461, dated December6, 1898.

Application filed May 2, 1898. Serial No. 679,440. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR II. PEIRCE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Gar-Seals, of which thefollowing is a specification.

- My invention relates to an improvement in the class of car-seals inwhich a shackle composed of a strip of frangible metal of flexiblequality or of wire 'carries at one end a stud of soft compressiblemetal, such as lead, and is provided at the other end with an eye toreceive the stud, which is adapted to be upset, as through the medium ofa hand-punch, to fasten together the two ends of theshackle. The metalcomposing the shackle is of more or less springy quality. Owing to thisspringiness a difficulty is experienced in the operation of applying theseal to its purpose. In applying the eye at one end over the-stud at theother end the two shackle ends should be condition while the stud isbeing upset, so that the two ends shall be tightly or closely clampedtogether by the upset stud. It is found, however, in practice that thespringy quality of the shackle when bent upon itself. tends to withdrawthe eye end along the stud after the eye has been applied theretopreparatory to the upsetting operation, whereby since the application ofthe punch upsets the stud only to the outer surface of the shackle endabout the eye if the latter surrounds the stud at a point more or lessremoved from the adjacent surface of the other shackle end the securityof the sealing effect of the seal will be impaired.

The object of my improvement is to overcome the difficulty referred to.This I accomplish by providing the stud with a recess close to theadjacent shackle end surface to engage the eye in the other shackle endand hold the latter against vdisplacement from close contact with thesurface of the shackle end carrying the stud by the. separating tendencyof the springy quality of the shackle.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an edge view of acar-seal provided with my improvement in its preferred form 5 Fig. 2, aplan view of the same; Fig.

3, an enlarged perspective view of the studcarrying end of the shackle,showing the preferred circumferential recess form of detent about thebase of the stud; Fig. 4, a similar view showing the two shackle endsadjusted together preparatory to upsetting the softmetal stud to fastenthem; Fig. 5, a section taken at the line 5 on Fig. V3 and viewed in thedirection of the arrow, and Fig. 6 a section taken lengthwise throughthe ends of the seal after they have been fastened together by upsettingthe stud.

.A is the shackle, shownin the forni of a flat strip usually composed ofa frangible quality of tin, though for my purpose the material composingthe shackle may be wire. In one end of the shackle is fastened the studi', of lead, projecting at one side from a disk-shaped head r on theopposite side. The other end of the shackle contains the eye p, shown ascountersunk or dished. About the base of the stud is formed a recess r2to afford the detent, though it may be provided in any other form thatwill subserve my purpose.

In applying the seal to its purpose the shackle is bent upon itself toadjust the eye p over the stud o* preparatory to applying a punch (notshown) to upset the stud. In thus adjusting the eye it catches, asrepresented lin Fig. 4, in the recess r2, wherein the eye-equippedshackle end is detained against the tendency to spring away and carrythe eye along the stud. The resilient nature of the shackle causes theeye-containing end thereof, when the eye therein is threaded over thesoft-metal stud on the opposite end and is seated in the recess, toexert an outward and upward pull, thereby causing the lower edge of theeye to impinge tightly against the wall of the recessed portion of thesoft-metal stud, thus holding vthe eye end of the shackle securelyagainst accidental displacement previous to sealing. The stud is thenupset into the condition in which it is represented in Fig. 6, whereinit clamps the shackle ends together in desired close proximity to theiropposing surfaces owing to the retention by the recess r2 of theeye-equipped end at the base of the stud.

If the shackle be formed of wire, one end is equipped with thesoft-metal stud, recessed IOO to be threaded ov'er the stud and toengage in the recess therein When the shackle ends are brought togetherin the bending operation, and to be retained therein by the resilieneyof the shaekle-body previous to sealing, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

ARTHUR H. PEIRCE. In presence ofvR. T. SPENCER, DAN. W. LEE.

